Karin Edwards of Karin H. Edwards Interiors believes fine art is to be honored, respected—and lived with.
Written by Vicki Ingham
Photos by Amy Allen Photography
For Karin Edwards, art is never mere decoration. Instead, it’s an integral part of the space. Whether the Des Moines-based designer is hanging art in her own home or in a client’s condominium, her approach tends to make installations feel inevitable—that each piece is right where it’s meant to be.
With a curatorial certificate from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, master’s degrees in art history and in museum studies—soon to be joined by another master’s degree in architecture—and a background in design journalism, Edwards brings a distinctive perspective to living with art. She credits her experience as a curator at several New York City museums and as a researcher at the Frick Collection for teaching her what she knows about displaying art: how to create vistas that draw the viewer down a hall and around a corner, how to arrange effective groupings, and how to balance busy walls with calming blank space. While working for New York City galleries and art dealers, she installed exhibitions of Old Master paintings as well as contemporary art.
“There’s a huge difference between hanging art in a home and in a gallery,” says Edwards, owner of Karin H. Edwards Interiors. “In a gallery, it’s about the object. In a home, it’s about the person and that person’s appreciation for the piece.”
Combining art-world expertise with an interior designer’s sensibilities often leads to unexpected placements, such as hanging a piece below eye level. A painting hung under a window or just above the floor leads your eye down and creates a feeling of stability, Edwards says. “I don’t hesitate to put furniture in front of art either,” she says, as layering creates depth that makes a room more interesting.
Or take a wall at the end of a corridor: It might seem like the obvious spot for a focal-point piece. “But one piece of work at the end of a hallway is too eyeball-grabbing,” Edwards says. Instead, she may mass a gallery of prints, hanging them from floor to ceiling and wrapping a corner. “It makes the space feel broader, and it draws you in,” she explains.
Likewise, conventional wisdom says a large piece belongs over the fireplace or on a wall by itself. Edwards says that’s often a mistake because the art overpowers the room: “Your eye focuses on that one piece, and the room feels smaller. It also makes the room about the art, not the people in it.”
Instead, she advocates grouping the large “statement” piece with a variety of smaller ones. “You have to moderate the force of each piece,” she says. “A powerful one is often more successful when it’s in a grouping. It’s about making the pieces live together peacefully.”
Hanging art at kitty eye level balances a soaring space with a ground-hugging feeling of intimacy. The custom-designed shadowbox-style frame gives a small Joel Shapiro sculpture greater prominence. Karin Edwards usually avoids using matching frames unless she’s trying to unify a variety of pieces into a unit, but here the black frame in the entry hall relates to a black-framed Robert Motherwell in the sitting area, helping to connect the two spaces.
Hallways are about passage and destination. a large work on the half wall draws attention to the architecture, and a gallery of prints at the end of the hallway entices the eye.
In the media room Edwards framed a series of John Baldassari prints in white and fit the frames together tightly to create the effect of one large piece that balances the length of the sofa. Because walls are seldom straight and plumb, this type of installation is best done with the help of a patient perfectionist. In the hallway beyond, she unified a variety of prints with identical silver frames and hung them from floor to ceiling on two adjacent walls. “Turning corners with art is something people don’t usually think about doing,” she says, “but it helps to draw you around the corner and into the next space. Just remember that when you turn the corner, the next wall should be left bare, to give you some breathing room.” In the hallway (opposite page), the bare window wall puts the focus on the half-wall art.
Edwards uses ledges to underline the art rather than to support it. Ledges are especially effective in small spaces such as powder rooms, where building out from the wall adds depth and interest. In this setting, little vases of flowers provide a living foreground for the drawing by Des Moines artist Jeff Thompson. “I’m very big on layering,” Edwards says. “The right accessory can draw you over to inspect the wall art more closely.”
A custom-made bracket duplicates the angle of the ceiling in a sitting area. Instead of displaying a modern piece of sculpture here, Edwards showcases an antique Chinese figure. She likes the contrast between its baroque curves and the architecture’s clean, minimalist lines. Contrast, she says, is the key to good design, with the goal to control the level of contrast to achieve the effect you want.
Art in the bathroom? Of course! To minimize the risk of moisture damage, the tub sits away from the wall. This print illustrates Edwards’ rule of thumb regarding frame color. Rather than picking up the lightest or darkest tone in a print, she looks for the middle-ground hue.
